Series resumes with Hopkins win LACROSSE

April 22, 1993|By Mike Preston | Mike Preston,Staff Writer

Loyola College's lacrosse program has become a power in the past decade, but the Greyhounds still haven't taken the final two steps to the top: winning a national championship and beating Johns Hopkins.

No. 8 Loyola waited 24 years to try to avenge past embarrassment against Johns Hopkins, but the Greyhounds still fell to the No. 4 Blue Jays, 16-11, last night before nearly 3,000 at Homewood Field.

The Blue Jays won all 29 games in the series from 1939 to 1969 before it was stopped because Hopkins wanted better competition.

This game was far from the lopsided Hopkins wins of the past. The Blue Jays (7-2) needed a four-goal spurt in the final six minutes of the third quarter to pull away.

"Loyola has been calling on us for the last seven years, ever since they have started climbing in the rankings," said Hopkins midfielder Brian Kelly. "It was a bigger game for them than us, but we wanted this game badly, too.

"It was the Charles Street Massacre all over again, and we held up our end of the bargain."

Hopkins started the scoring early. Kelly scored on a 20-foot shot with 13:10 left in the first quarter.

The Blue Jays made it 2-0 with 9:05 left, when attackman Brian Piccola beat defenseman Jason Foley to left of the goal.

The Blue Jays attack was too quick for Loyola, especially Hopkins' short-stick midfielders. Hopkins middie Todd Cavallaro beat Loyola midfielder Mfon Udo for a goal with 5:16 left, and midfielder Alex Wadkovsky scored from the left side of the crease with 1:32 remaining to give Hopkins a 4-1 lead at the end of the period.

Loyola goalie Tim McGeeney, who played sluggishly in the first period, became hot in the first nine minutes of the second.

McGeeney had two saves in the first period, but seven in the second. Several stops were from close range. And with McGeeney slowing Hopkins' attack, Loyola started to get back into the game.

But Hopkins kept the pressure on McGeeney. Blue Jays midfielder Charlie Speno caught a rebound and scored with 5:27 left in the half. Midfielder Peter Jacobs, running to his right, scored on a left-handed, 20-yard shot with 3:59 left to give Hopkins a 7-4 lead at halftime.

Hopkins seemed on the verge of taking control of the game in the first two minutes of the third period. Piccola scored 51 seconds into the period, and Kelly scored on a hook shot with 12:59 left to put the Blue Jays ahead 9-4.

But Loyola answered with four straight goals in a minute.

The two teams traded goals within the next three minutes before Hopkins started pulling away in the last six minutes of the quarter.

Blue Jays midfielder Milford Marchant scored on a high shot with 5:06 remaining, and with 3:39 left, attackman David Townsend scored for the Blue Jays.